A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the manner in which laces traverse the adjustable opening of shoes for fastening. More specifically this invention relates to the positioning, structure, and methods for lacing and adjusting the adjustable opening and anchoring the lace ends and the lace interior, relative the movable fastener(s) and the adjustable opening, in order to optimize performance, simplify installation, minimize cost, and provide other benefits discussed in this specification. More generally, this invention relates to a lacing system, which in addition to fastening shoes, can also be used to fasten other laced articles of manufacture such as orthopedic devices, and garments etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pat. No. 6,941,683, issued Sep. 13, 2005 shows lace ends attached either in the adjustable opening, FIGS. 5A-5C, or in the movable fastener, FIGS. 5D-5F. I have found that the attached or connected ends within the adjustable opening interfere with the smooth alignment of the laces. The connected ends tend to shift during use and butt up against the side with the eyelet that is closest to the pull from the movable fastener and/or get caught with other lace segments in the adjustable opening, thus impeding alignment, and also detracting from the lacing pattern. The connected ends may also require sewing loops into the lace, as shown in FIG. 5A, or additional parts such as an S-hook as shown in FIG. 5B or a C-hook as shown in FIG. 5A of Pat. No. 6,941,683.The attached ends may also require the manufacturing of special laces with hooks as shown in FIG. 5C. I have also found that the knotted ends in the retaining member 310 in the movable fastener, at the top of the opening, as shown in FIGS. 5E-5F constrict the adjustable opening from readily expanding and contracting, thus further impeding the alignment of the laces. Additionally, I have found that the two (2) movable fasteners in FIGS. 7A-7D tend to shift during use, changing their distance from the side of the shoe, resulting in misalignment of the two (2) movable fasteners relative the fixed fasteners, and therefore unable to fasten.